Award recognises local company at the heart of Scottish construction

A Kirkintilloch construction firm’s quality control manager involved in some of the biggest building projects in Scotland has received a top award.

Steven Black, from Robeslee Concrete Company, based in the town’s Southbank Road, was recently presented with a United Nations World Quality Day Quality Professional of the Year Award at a ceremony in Dunfermline.

The company has become a massive success story since being founded in 1967 on the outskirts of Kirkintilloch.

They have literally formed the foundations of some of the largest construction projects to have been undertaken in Scotland.

Robeslee provided various products used in the creation of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games Velodrome, and also supplied the lintels for Scotland’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

The firm have also been involved in the Glasgow Cineworld building - the tallest cinema in the world - and a series of new school buildings in South Lanarkshire.

Steven has played a key role in these projects and many others, leading to him receiving the UK wide industry award from the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) which is supported in Scotland by the Scottish Quality Management Centre (SQMC).

After being presented with the award, Steven said: “I think like many people in my line of work, I just fell into a career of quality assurance.

“It was about 20 years ago, and I was already involved in production – or ‘operations’ as it would be known today – and being so involved in the company’s ‘nuts and bolts’ made me a good fit for the role.”

World Quality Day was established in 2008 and SQMC mark the occasion every year by presenting a trophy to the Scottish company it feels has gone the extra mile.

This year it was the ongoing success of the pre-stressed lintel manufacturer that led to Steven being chosen for the honour.

SQMC technical director, Ron Rivans, nominated Steven for the award having been an admirer of his work for over 20 years.

He said: “I’m delighted for Steve to receive this award and for such a well-run company to receive recognition of their impressive efficiency.

“This is a company who felt the impact of the 2008 downturn just as badly as its competitors and peers within the construction industry but – through inspired management – were able to weather the storm without any redundancies, and are now going from strength to strength.

“I’ve followed Steven’s progress in his career for many years in the capacity of a third party certification auditor, and his proficiency is particularly notable, in that he has maintained Robeslee’s system so efficiently.”